Oblivious Hearts (Phan)

Chapter Ten

Word count: 1773

'Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.'

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Dan padded back into his bedroom to find Phil still asleep, snoring softly, curled up in a ball under the wrinkled duvet. A frown line appeared between Phil's eyebrows, so Dan climbed onto the bed, crawled towards Phil, and kissed it away. At the gentle contact on his forehead Phil woke up, his face changing from confused and upset to happy and content to see Dan kneeling next to him. This was surely the only scene to wake up to; it was even more perfect than the brightest sunrise, more satisfying than cooling water on a hot day.

"Morning cutey." Dan whispered, pecking Phil lightly on the lips and smiling, revealing deep dimples.

"Morning beautiful." Phil replied, making a pale pink blush creep across Dan's cheeks, a big difference, Phil thought, to the colourless complexion he'd had during the night. He looked healthy and alive with colour in his cheeks.

Dan crawled back off the bed and skipped out of the room, a happy bounce to his step. Phil however lay on the bed for a moment longer, thinking about how lucky he was to finally find someone he could trust, someone he wanted to feel the loving touch of, someone who wanted him for his mind and not just his body.

"Your breakfast will get cold if you don't get a move on!" Dan called from down the hall.

Phil chuckled and heaved himself out of bed, admittedly the thought of Dan waiting for him down the hall was so inviting he wouldn't have waited in bed for much longer anyway.

Phil found Dan sat at the counter connecting the kitchen with the living room, a spoon of Shredded Wheat balanced in his left hand hovering over his cereal bowl, a full bowl placed next to him waiting for Phil.

"Dan, this is cereal." Phil said.

"Well done Phil, you're not just a pretty face." Dan replied.

"I mean that it's not a problem if it gets cold!" Phil retorted, fake scowling. "I could have stayed in bed." He walked up behind Dan at the counter and slid his long arms past Dan's neck to rest on his chest, their faces next to each other. "But then I might have missed out on seeing you with cereal stuck to your face." Phil said, his tongue darting out of his mouth and picking up a stray bit of Shredded Wheat stuck on the corner of Dan's lips.

"Ew, Phil that's gross!" Dan cried, shrugging Phil off him. Phil chuckled and sat down on the stool next to Dan, grabbing a spoon and tucking into his own cereal.

Phil couldn't remember the last time he woke up and felt so instantly, blissfully happy. Just being around Dan brought a natural smile to Phil's face, he couldn't ever think of anyone he wanted to spend his time with more than Dan. He also couldn't understand why someone had blessed him and brought Dan into his life. If he were religious he'd have prayed in gratitude to whichever God brought Dan to him.

"So, what do you have planned for today?" Phil asked. His head turning slightly in Dan's direction, but his tired eyes still watching the cereal soak up the sweet coconut milk it was floating in.

"Well, as it's a Saturday I don't have work, so just marking I guess." Dan replied, pushing his cereal away and turning his body to completely face Phil, their knees touching. "Do you have any plans? Or do you maybe fancy hanging out together for the day?" He asked, hopefully.